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TOY BUILDING BLOCKS.

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TOY BUILDING BLOGK$.

No. 260,284. Patented 'June 2731882..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE A. ORANDALL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOVVALTERP. DENSLOW, OF SAME PLACE.

TOY BUILDING-BLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,284, dated June 27,1882.

' Application filed February 15, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern!" Be it known that I, JEssE A. CRANDALL,ofBrooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have inventedan Improved Toy Building-Block, of which the following is aspecification.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a temple composed of my improvedbuilding -block. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same; Fig. 3, aperspective view of one of the blocks; Fig. 4, a perspective view,showing the junction of several of the blocks; Fig. 5, a bottom view ofone of the corner-blocks.

The object of this invention is to produce an instructive building-blockfor children, and one from which a great variety of structures can beproduced, the structures being firm and well supported, owing to thepeculiar form of the blocks.

The invention consists, first, in making each block with a projectingtapering rib on one side and with a corresponding groove on the otherside, for the purpose of taking into and receiving the adjoining blocksand preventing lateral displacement thereof or thereon; also, incrossing the grooves near the ends of blocks that are intended ascorner-blocks, and also in inscribing the outer faces of said blockswith sections of legends, so that by properly uniting them continuoussentences will be produced. Thus, in Fig. l of the drawings, the baseand corners of the temple there shown, and also other parts, are madefrom sundry blocks, A A, and contain, when the blocks are properlyplaced one next to the other, continuous quotations from the Bible,which will be instructive to children, and will impart to them, by wayof play, knowledge. which otherwise, in schools, is much more difficultto acquire. In like manner the single blocks, by which I mean those/blocks that are placed between the columns of the structure, or anyother isolated blocks, may have inscribed on them names, such as namesfound in the Bible, with translations thereof in the English language,showing their meaningas is, for instance, indicated in Fig. 3, where thename Ebenezer appears on the block and beneath it the translation of theWord Ebenezer-to wit, The 50 Stone of Help. These words or sentences maybe applied directly to the blocks by pain tin g, branding, or stenoiling, or may be printed on paper, which can be gummed or glued to the outerfaces of the blocks, and each block may have its opposite facesinscribed in difi'er- 5 5 cut ways,so that greater variety ofreadingmatter may be obtained .by using either one or the other face ofthe block on the outside of the structure. For the purposes of amusementand the production of confused or funny sentences this reversal of thefaces may be very desirable.

Each block A, as is more clearly shown in Fig. 3, is provided on oneface-say the upper face-and made in one piece with a projectiugpreferably V-shaped rib, a, and on the opposite-say the lower-face witha corresponding V-shaped groove, I). When the blocks are placed one uponthe other to produce a structure such as isshown in Figs. 1 and 2, thetapering ribs of one series or tiers of blocks will enter into thegrooves of the next adjoining series or tiers of blocks, thus causingthe blocks to interlock, giving the structure a greater degree ofrigidity than can 7 5 be found in the ordinary building-blocks. Theblocks that are to come at the corners, as in Fig. 4, and those thatconstitute cross-braces,

as shown at the top of Fig. 2, may also be provided with cross-groovescl to receive the projecting longitudinal ribs a of the blocks beneaththem. The ends of the grooves which would be exposedin the finishedstructureas is, for example, shown in Fig. 4may be hidden by a coveringof paper that may be placed over the blocks, or in any other suitablemanner.

The building-blocks A, constructed as described, may be united in thestructure itself with other building-blocks, B B, that will formsectional columns, pillars, pinnacles, and the like; and I do not limitmyself to the'use of blocks A in one set of building-blocks alone, asthey may be combined with other blocks, B, or others of different form.

Ido not claim joining blocks by tongues set in them and entering groovesin each of two adjoining blocks.

I claim- 1. The building-block A, made in one piece 10o with thetapering rib a, and provided with the groove 1), substantially asdescribed.

, 2. The building-block A, made in one piece with the tapering rib a,and provided with the 5 groove 1) and cross-grooved, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination of several buildingblocks A A with each other, eachbuildingblock containing on its exposed face one or 10 more wordsforming a portion of a sentence which will only match a portion of thesame sentence that is inscribed on only one of the other blocks in thesame series, substantially as specified.

4. The sectional pillar composed of detached 15 blocks B, in combinationwith building-blocks A, having ribs 0 and grooves b, substantially asdescribed.

This specification of my invention signed by me this 9th day ofFebruary, 1882.

JESSE A. CRANDALL.

Witnesses:

HENRY B. PARKER, WILLY G. E. SCHULTZ.

